Ever Waiting
by Havenhaven
Summary: FE:SS , The tunnel is long, Seth can tell, but he's sure he sees a golden figure at its end. SethCormag


"Away! Be gone!"

"Blast it, come on-." Seth swung his sword, unwilling to see the form in front of him, unwilling to acknowledge the non-existence. Suddenly the sword didn't exist, vaporizing and floating through the open window, Seth's open window.

"I'm past physical injury Seth, don't think to attack with a weapon such as that." The figure moved forward, walking normally, back straight, head high; looking nothing like what he should. Seth shoved the figure away as tanned fingers stretched towards his arm.

/

"_Are you awake, Seth?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Perhaps…perhaps you should stay here and rest-."_

"_My Queen, no I…I am well, do not worry."_

_/_

"Are you going to push me away, knight? Are you going to deny my existence a second time?"

"You don't exist. Not in my life, not in my head, not even in my dreams." The figure snarled angrily as he began to fade from the tossing sands.

"You allow me in your conscious, only to scorn and doubt me? Think on what you decide, for I won't come to you again only to be cast away as a fantasy!"

/

"_Don't bug him, Franz, the General is still upset."_

"_Upset? Did something happen, brother? Does he need assistance? Is something wrong?"_

"_Calm down, twit, and quiet down. He's in a meeting on the other side of those doors."_

"_Then tell me."_

"_Remember the mission last month? The one into the far-northern edge of Rausten?"_

"_When I was drilling the recruits in Milan?"_

"_That's the one. Seth took Kyle and Cormag-."_

"_Ah, Sir Cormag! Where has he been? Did he return to Grado after the mission? Is that why the General-."_

"_Fool, quiet down...He's dead."_

"_C-Cormag? Never!"_

"_Yes, he fell from his wyvern -frendly fire from a raged Rausten recruit- and landed in the thick of a Bael nest…ripped him to bits. He hardly had time to scream, from Kyle's account."_

"_Unbelievable, but surely the General is used to…to the passing of friends?"_

"_He was…a bit more than a friend, a bit more special."_

"_Special, how?"_

"_Ugh, you're so oblivious. Is Amelia special to you?"_

"_Y-yes! Certainly she is!"_

"_Well, going from your outstanding blush, I'd say you think on Amelia in the same special way as Seth and Cormag did one another."_

"_Do you mean-? He and Sir Cormag? Oh… oh, dear…"_

_/_

"I'm exhausted," the paladin announced softly. The other smirked.

"I know. You've been up since daybreak," Seth extended his arms above his head and tried to ignore the sulfuric stench. "-and I know that's not the cause."

"Why are we here?"

"Not sure. I wasn't paying attention when you fell asleep." A pair of hands drifted through his hair, pulling knots and smoothing flyaway strands. "We could leave, you know."

"Good, I find it hard to believe that you think this place appealing." Seth rested his head against the other's legs as the sulfuric odor was replaced with a gentle breeze. Shadows shifted across his face as the moon lit on his languid limbs.

"Does this meet your approval, sir knight?" Seth only curled his lips contently; opening his eyes to gaze at the slowly passing clouds from beneath the great oak Cormag had brought their bodies to rest at. "I was watching you today."

"Ah… and I don't suppose you liked what you saw." The other's only response was a slightly jerking of Seth's scarlet mane. "It would be so much easier if you were there, Cormag."

"But I'm not, so deal." His head fell against the flowing grass as Cormag faded, dissipating into an illusive mist before reforming against Seth's chest. The knight's pale hands pulled at the man's shoulders, drawing the corporal frame against his body as he molded pale lips against the other's tanned ones. "How's it that you can't let them in?"

"I you're referring to Lady Natasha-."

"And if I'm not?" Seth shut his eyes as the man draped familiar arms around his body. "Sleep then, I won't hassle you further."

"You'll be gone when I wake."

"I'm always gone when you wake, sir knight, yet I always return." A final meeting of flesh accompanied the heated whisper.

/

_The man woke, smelt sulfur on his clothes and plucked strands of grass from his hair. Care for the King, eliminate the enemy, and keep the kingdom._

_Give a little more._

/

"Cormag?" The man opened his eyes, quirking his brow expectantly. "Have you seen your brother?"

"...No, why?" Seth stroked the glowing fire. Snow drifted serenely in front of the cave entrance.

"Do you spend all your time with me?"

"And if I did?" Cormag glared at the swirling snow and shuffled closer to the knight, wrapping his arms around the other's waist and burrowing beneath the other's outstretched arm. "Mmmm, warm."

"Can you even feel warmth?" A muffled scoff sounded from Seth's cloak as Cormag dove beneath the fabric, stretching his legs and cushioning his upper body against Seth's lax frame.

"'Can I feel warmth?' Course I can, otherwise I'd have no way to heat your frozen heart."

"It isn't-." Cormag nestled his head against Seth's thigh and abdomen, content in basking in the knight's presence with the fire's warmth at his back.

"It is…and I'm constantly sorry that I am the reason for it."

/

_A wedding was held under the bright summer sky. Seth was overjoyed when the couple walked up the flower-strewn aisle. He smiled openly at the joy on the woman's face, she deserved as much, deserved much more than he could have offered her. They had tried to be happy, tried to produce the kind of contentment other's expected of their courtship._

_But azure oceans had always colored his vision, just as bell-light laughter had always turned her head._

_/_

"I haven't looked for him."

"Hmm?" Seth carded through the blonde strands, waving a hand occasionally when the falling pedals obscured his view of the other man. "Your brother, you mean?" He felt the slight nod against his shoulder as Cormag left his eyes closed, head titled lazily as the roving hand felt along his scalp.

"I'm not sure what he'd think…I'm not sure what I'd say. I…I don't know if he's even out there."

"You want to know, though." An amused snort drifted though Seth's awareness.

"Of course I do. Haven't wanted anything more, ever. Except you, but that's a different problem."

/

"_Seth, I've a request from Rausten to lend aid to the eradication regiment. Another nest has been located."_

"_Of course, I will prepare immediately."_

"_Are…you certain you wish to go? Kyle or Forde could-."_

"_King Ephraim; as Renais fell before Grado and your father was buried under this castle, grief never dictated my actions. Now, when I know naught but, do not hesitate to make use of my strength, do not hesitate to send me to battle."_

_/_

"I'm tired." A sandy shoreline was their bedding.

"You've been tired for a year, knight."

"And you've been away for just as long." A storm broke the coast. Racing thunderheads engulfed the night sky as angry winds scattered the shifting sands.

"You're bleeding, lay back." Seth complied, settling between the other's legs and offering his torn throat. "Should be careful. Wouldn't want to see you here early."

"Would that be so bad?" The gash was swabbed and cleaned, before being sealed by the other's lips.

"You wouldn't like it here. To much chaos and disorder. You'd be too busy trying to right it to spend time with me."

"Nonsense, you'd be with me. Forever." The other hummed distractedly, lapping up the excess blood. "Whenever I bleed, whenever I'm broke, whenever I lay in pain; it rains."

"…I never noticed." A warm chuckle floated from the knight's mended throat as he rose and pressed his lips to the other's forehead.

"Don't weep for me, Cormag. I don't yet deserve your tears."

/

_Dawn came, and with it the day's duties. Fellow knights gathered around him; ready to fight for the King, ready to die for their homeland's honor._

_Evening came, and with it the sorrow. A fresh, promising cavalier floated on the strong wind, ash whirling around the falling rain. A man spoke despairingly to the sky._

"_I told you; I don't yet deserve your tears, regardless of the pain_."

/

"I won't leave." The fingers that were entwined with his tightened. Seth didn't turn his head, waiting for the lips that moved against his throat to still. "I won't return."

The tongue that played against his sluggish pulse roughened, traveling down his chest in a wide arc. Seth felt strong teeth sink in his shoulder; tightening and clenching before soothing in moist warmth.

"Cormag, slow yourself."

"Never."

The moon faded, leaving a rolling, black tempest to devastate the lilting lake. The un-noticed breeze howled angrily, blowing against the waving grass and cooling Seth's pounding forehead.

"No, they'll be fine without-."

"They will die. I'll not have that on your conscious when you return to me." A calloused hand spread under his cloak, pressing against the torn shirt and pushing past the massing blood.

"You-ah…you always fix me. You never let me be, never let me stay!" The wound ached under the attention of Cormag's hand.

"I know you don't want to stay here, yet, knight." Seth's slowing heart shuddered, quivering as Cormag fit his bloodied hand around it; slowly, hesitantly, clenching his fingers before releasing. Once, twice; and Seth felt Cormag retreat from his body, retreat from his conscious. His heart beat proudly; eagerly pumping stilled blood through his burning corpse.

/

_The knight fought for the darkness, unwilling to leave it. Hands grasped his neck and clenched, forcing the just-returned breath from his lungs. Scarlet eyes widened, taking note of the blazing sun, of the faint scar he felt against his chest, of the phantom hands he imagined being there._

_And then he rose, throwing the enraged bandit from his jerking body, swinging his spear in a wide arc. Tendons rose in his neck._

_The enemy fell, his head rolling away in a separate direction. Seth roared, blood pounding in his head, coursing through his limbs, taking rational thought from his mind._

_The spear flew from his grip, hands spasming as the previously icy fingers burned; blood rushing to the tips._

_Then Seth fell. His broken steed watched with glassy eyes as he convulsed on the ground, grabbing his chest and tearing at the bonded scar. A slight pair of hands pulled at his arms -she had thought he was dead- and tried to calm his rattled nerves._

_But all Seth felt was the rough play of a tongue and the hand that still held his heart._

/

"I could have stayed here! I could have stayed with you!"

"Calm down."

"I won't! I was so close to the end! Why-."

"Stop complaining! Maybe you shouldn't have passed out if you didn't want me interfering."

"Believe me, I certainly didn't try to!"

"You love your duty, knight, remember?"

"But I love you more, Cormag!"

/

_Shaking hands forced Seth to consciousness._

_"What magic is this, dear Seth?" The Queen sat near his bedside; carefully adjusting the wetted cloth covering his forehead. "You were lost to me. I felt your heart still with my own hand."_

_"None which you would care to hear, milady." The Queen clenched the other's hand tightly in an attempt to quell her sudden shaking._

_"You were dead to this world. Have you made some occultist pact?" The shadows beneath her kind gaze had never fully disappeared._

_"…T'was love, nothing more." She smiled, fully and beautifully. Ever showing the noble magnificence of her blood._

/

"Haven't seen you for a bit." The man grinned in response; coming forward and reclining against the spread cloak, letting his head relax against the other's chest and allowing blonde strands to play at the pale throat. "I know better than to think I scared you off."

"Then you know me better than most," Cormag rubbed at the week-old scar. "-and I thought I'd let you relax a bit, knight." Seth dropped his head to the ground. The wheat danced in lazy waves across the field, effectively hiding the lounging men.

"You've nothing to fear here, nothing to hide from. What exists in this world is only what you allow." Gentle touches accompanied the words. Brief contact as skin and lips met, warmth spreading throughout the knight's body as the other moved about his person. "I would stop your death a thousand times. I would breath life past your frozen lips forever, if that's how long it took you to complete your duty."

"My honor, my duty, my life; that's all you ever speak about." Seth hissed as rough lips traveled down his chest. "Those things aren't my life, they don't consume my soul as in olden days. Not since you took their place."

"But you'd hate to leave that duty and honor to another. You're too good for that, my knight, too good to leave your business for some foolish dullard."

/

_Seth woke with grain in his hair and ran his fingers through the sleep-mussed strands, sighing as multiple bits fell to his comforter. Slight hands touched his shoulder, pressing his body against the warped sheets. He caught the lowering face with his own hands, smiling sadly at his visitor._

_"Milady." The room was dark and cold. The lady wore no more than her modest under-dressings, the pale gown bunched around her knees as she covered Seth's hands with her own._

_"Love saved you."_

_"Love for another. Another long gone, another who will always stay at my side." Her lashed lowered slightly as her lips quivered._

_"But, you told me…that-." Seth pressed his lips against the Queen's forehead, strong in resolve, sincere in action._

_"At one time, possibly. I give you the utmost devotion as my duty will allow, never doubt this, nothing less; but the rest has been given to another." Her head moved back and forth. Dark eyes closed with defeat._

_"I strove to not believe my sight, to not believe my vision as a specter embraced your body and touched your lips on that miserable day. But he was there, and he held you so tenderly. Words of hate and anger floated on the wind as he brought you back to my side…I-I thought… I thought I could help rid you of that pain, that sorrow." Seth tucked the cerulean strands away thoughtfully. "You have no sorrow, do you Seth? Only patience and yearning for your day of completion." A brief touch to his scattered hair and then she rose, drifting towards the closed door in her pastel, quivering gown. Every bit the spirit she'd accused another of being._

/

"You understand your place, don't you, my knight?" Seth pushed the other back against the bedding. The candles in the room flickered briefly as the drapery gave to the passing breeze. He brought their lips together, ridding Cormag of his clothing with a thought. The fabric rose in strands and exposed the man's corpreal skin.

"Aren't you proud?" Seth liked into the moist cavern, dancing along Cormag's sides with determined fingers, shedding his own clothing with an errant notion. "After all this time-." The other pressed against his body, halting the words and drawing breathless moans.

'Do you cheer at the thought of living another day? Do you strive for greater purpose?'

Seth overwhelmed the tanned face, drawing his teeth up the exposed neck as repentant thoughts floated in the silence.

'Will you cheer when you leave that world, when you have no choice but to stay here?'

Seth ground against the body beneath his own, forcing non-existent blood from the man's throat as excitement and stimulation wracked his straining body.

'Yes, yes, yes, yes. Forever yes.'

The wispy thoughts dissipated, falling to the stone floor as Seth soothed the angry marks. Excitement met his own, forcing the knight to a higher plane of awareness and need. Hands stroked, limbs shook, and sweat fell to Cormag's chest in spattering drops as Seth placed his hand on the man's thigh, the other drifting through sunny hair.

"Say it," Seth trailed his tongue against the parting lips, diving inside minutely before continuing to trace the other's shaking features. He lifted the shivering leg, pushing it to the side as he moved closer, bringing their perspiring chests flush. "Say it." A drifting hand inched within Cormag's thigh as Seth brought their foreheads together; slowly, achingly, increasing pressure and moving inward. A wild groan echoed from the other's throat, roaming hands finally coming to rest on the pale shoulders as Seth brought forth both hands to hold the tanned hips.

Then welcoming warmth and engulfing contentment. Unparalleled pleasure as Cormag reclaimed his lips, pulling and biting at them harshly.

"Aghh-."

"Say it."

"Gah-hhh, just-."

"Say it. Say my name, say your want, say you'll always be at my side."

"Seth! My soul, my knight, my Seth. Blast it, do s-something! Anything, e-everything, oh-aghaaaa!" Cormag fell against the sheets, twisting his arms around Seth's neck as the man besieged his throat. "Seth. Seth. S-seth." Jerking motions fell to a steady pulse as Seth reclaimed the swollen lips, swallowing the hoarse moans as one hand traveled lower.

"Did it hurt when they broke you? When they slashed your flesh and ripped your throat?" Cormag ran blunt nails against the other's restraining arms, crying out in need as the hand clenched and tightened. "Tell me; did it hurt when you left me?" A gasping sob tore itself from the heaving chest -a word, a name- as Cormag reached his peak and fell, sagging near bonelessly to the bedding as Seth reclaimed his lips and found his own completion.

/

_"I-I…ah-h-." Seth nodded contently, agreeing wholeheartedly with the half formed words and slowly draping the abandoned blanket across their quivering forms. The wooden door to his chambers vibrated angrily, Seth thought that someone might be on the other side but couldn't hear a sound. Cormag's shaking voice assaulted his senses, claiming his diverting attention. "S-so long, it'll be so damn long."_

_"What?" An enraged voice filtered past the wooden frame and became noticeable. "Cormag, what will-?"The voice suddenly became clear as his head cleared and Cormag grinned at his confused stare._

_"Seth! Answer me! I'm coming in!" The door shook and wobbled, before finally succumbing to the emerald knight's strength. The man kicked the broken frame and looked around expectantly._

_"Seth, are you alright? Where…C-cormag?" Seth turned away from the bewildered knight as Cormag brought their swollen lips together._

_'I'll see you when you're ready.'_

_Seth pulled away from the slight kiss, shaking slightly as Cormag's body began to feel less stable, less real._

_'See you later,'_

_Then Cormag faded, laughing fully as Seth tried to stem the flow of moisture from the azure orbs._

/

"Did you have to stay away for so long?" A tanned hand carded through the scarlet mane, smoothing the strands as the man pressed his face against the tresses.

"Yeah, I thought it was best." Seth felt along his features, quirking a brow as the lines across his forehead and lips faded. "Didn't feel like distracting you anymore."

"Thirty-eight years." Seth joined their hands, smiling at the other's warmth.

"Long enough for you to miss me," Falling strands caught the knight's eye. "I don't like your hair gray, makes you look dead, old."

"Aren't I?"

"Pfft, anything but. It doesn't matter how old your body was, Seth, merely how youthful your soul is." Seth pulled at his thick scarlet locks, surprised when they held.

"Long as it is your hands that hold it, may I forever know youth." Cormag stood and stretched languidly, reaching to the storm-less sky. He tossed a thoughtful look over his shoulder, waiting for Seth to join him on the hillcrest.

"Ready?" Seth groaned excitedly as forgotten strength filled his limbs and stood, walking to the other and draping a familiar arm around the man's waist.

"For what?" A searing kiss stole the non-existent breath from his lungs.

"Don't you know?" Seth stepped closer to the entrancing body and closed his eyes contently as the answer drifted through his conscious.

'For forever.'


End file.
